Complaint Review: HSBC

Almost every card out there now you have including say Advanta, Bank of America, Citibank, Chase, etc. has started raising their rates for anyone carrying a balance regardless if you always paid on time, have excellent credit and so on and so forth. Since the 1978 Supreme Court case that let them locate in states where they can do whatever the heck they want to and use whatever rates they want to, they have been jacking people's rates due to the current economic crisis and a lot of them are in the toilet now, like Citibank, Advanta, and others. The other gentlemen are correct in that about the only way to avoid them doing this to you is to not carry a balance or at least not past 30 days.

I have also been a loyal customer to HSBC. With no late payments, payments over my minimum, and nothing on my credit report, such as late payments, defaults, collections, and so on. My interest rate rate at 12%, this is why I chose them. I just received a notice saying my rate is going to go up to 29%! I did the same thing and called them right away, thinking there must of been a mistake. They told me it was a business decision they needed to make!

I think it's pretty crappy that in times like now, more corporations are shafting the little people again and this is what I told them, needless to say I closed my account with them and told them if I can get a card with a better interest rate, there is no reason to keep doing business with them! I'm so angry that corporations keep getting away with unethical practices just to make a dollar.

My advice is, close your accounts with these snakes! When the economy turns around, remember the companies that did this to you, don't ever go back to them even if they contact you saying they have a better card for you (they'll just do it again to you), and spread the word. Maybe with enough people we can start making a difference in corporation greed!!

Much like buying a used car, any hogwash (like a particular rate for life) that a representative promises you is overridden by the agreement you sign. In every single CC agreement I've ever seen is language stating that they can raise your rate to whatever they feel is appropriate. That's why credit cards rate just slightly above a loan shark in a dark alley, as far as integrity. It's almost the absolute worst way to borrow money. I have a couple of credit cards for convenience, but they get paid in full at the end of every month. If you don't carry a balance, they can't put you into financial trouble.

Trying to recover bad loans there screwing over the good customers, WAMU raised my fixed for life 8.9 card to 24.9 with no notice.

You may find this article very interesting

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/credit/view

HSBC raised your rate because they "felt" that you had an increased credit risk. True or not, it is totally valid for them to do. This is why you will find most credit card companies based in states that have very liberal credit card regulations in terms of interest rates and fees.

Unfortunatly there is no such thing as a "Fixed Rate forever". Every credit card reserves the right to change your rate when circumstances change. Don't think that other banks won't do the exact same thing. In fact there is something known as Universal Default. Where if you have anything negative show up on your report they reserve the right to kick your interest rate up even if you were perfect with them. So if your credit reports are showing you maxed out on this card, don't be surprised if your other credit cards don't follow suit if they have this provision.